Page 19 of Catch My Fall (Catch)

Macy was a shaky mess, but was somehow managing to hold up better than me right in this moment. Grabbing my shoulders, she gripped me firmly.

“Don’t you freak out on me now. We’re fine. We’re going to stay fine. He only sent those pictures to let us know what he’ll do if we tell anyone about what he and Chad did. Since we’re never going to tell anyone, we don’t need to worry about it.”

When you’re in danger and everything is going horribly wrong, your mind can choose to ignore reality. Even as I made the decision to ignore reality, I knew that I would be hearing more from Brady. I just chose to pretend that I wouldn’t.

* * *

It’s been three weeks since “the incident” and Macy’s getting much, much worse. She’s short-tempered with me and does everything in her power to spend as little time with me as humanly possible and it hurts like hell. She’s gone out the past few weekends with the druggies and the kids who drink a lot and she didn’t even call me for my eighteenth birthday. Even though I get that she’s in agony and is just trying to find her way through it, it hurts that she ignores me.

She’s been my best friend since my first day of preschool and I miss her. As time goes on and she keeps this up, I’m also getting angry with her. If she hadn’t forced my hand we wouldn’t have gone to Brady’s and none of this would have happened. Why is she punishing me for it? I know it’s my fault that Brady even thought of doing what he did, but it isn’t totally my fault that we fell into his hands. I absolutely hate myself for thinking that way at all, but in my quiet moments I can’t make myself stop. Aren’t we both responsible for making such a stupid choice?

Tonight, for the first time in weeks, we’re at the same party together. One of the football players is hosting an all-team, all-cheer party and everyone who’s part of the football or cheerleading team is here, so that’s why Macy had to show up.

We might be in the same place geographically, but physically we’re worlds apart. I’m standing with some of the junior cheerleaders and Macy is in a corner with Heather the über bitch chugging god only knows what. Macy hates Heather as much as I do and I can’t believe she’s spending time with her instead of with me.

The party was in full swing and the music was getting louder and louder as more and more people showed up. I’ve never in my life had a problem with crowds, but now having all of these people surrounding me is freaking me out.

I startled when I felt someone put an arm around my waist, and before I turned to look I knew that it was Brady because my skin was crawling. “Hey sexy, you ready to take some dicks yet?Mydad’s always said that you’ll turn out to be a filthy whore, just like your mother. What’re you waiting for?”

I couldn’t breathe and my body was suddenly burning from the inside out. Shoving him away from me, I ran toward the first door I saw, gasping for air as I skidded into the backyard. A large group of people gaped at me, cluing me into the fact that I look like a frightened shaky mess. Running around the corner of the house, I found a deserted spot next to the trashcans and dropped down to the ground where I pulled my knees up to my chin and held tight as I shook uncontrollably.

It felt like I was dying and I didn’t know what to do or how the hell to get away. Suddenly I realized that I’d left Macy behind, and I knew that Brady would go for her next. Jumping up, I ran for the house, bursting through the door as I frantically scanned the crowd for her. I found her quickly and when I did my heart dropped. Brady had her trapped in a corner and she was white as a sheet and looked like she was going to pass out.

I physically shoved people out of the way in order to get to her, and I heard more than one person call me a bitch as I did so. I didn’t give a shit what any of them said as long as I got Macy away from him.

When I reached them, I could hear the vile things he was saying to her and it broke my already shaky control into smithereens.

“Don’t act like you didn’t like having your ass and your pussy fucked at the same time, because you’re lying. You begged for it. Don’t you remember that? You should thank me for fucking your slutty ass. It was like throwing a hotdog down a hallway.”

Without thinking, I grabbed the back of his hair and pulled him away from her with every ounce of strength I possessed. I had the element of surprise on my side and he stumbled and fell. When he looked up at me, I saw the rage and I knew that I was going to pay for embarrassing him, but in the moment, I didn’t care.

I grabbed Macy’s hand and pulled her behind me through the crowd. We were almost to the front door when I heard Brady yell, “Jesus, Mia, I wasn’t trying to keep your girlfriend away from you. You really are one jealous dyke.”

There were oohs and aahs as he said it, and my stomach cramped up painfully in response to his words. Brady Howard is the devil, and I wished right then that he was dead. Macy had my hand in a death grip and she pulled me hard out the door, the two of us working together to get away from him.

I thought that I knew terror after the night that Brady and Chad drugged us, but I hadn’t known then how much worse it could get. Even running from the party with Macy, I didn’t understand that I knew nothing about misery. Not in the way that I was about to.

Chapter Ten

Darby announced that we needed to hang out tonight with people other than Tristan and Trace. I had no desire to do so, but I’m not dumb and I know that it’s because she’s still really upset about knowing that Trace had sex with Tiffany. To be honest, I can’t blame her for needing the distance at all. I barely even know Tristan and I can’t stop thinking about the fact that he had sex with Tiffany, twice, in one night. It doesn’t make sense why someone as nice as Tristan is, and frankly Trace too, would have sex with a girl like Tiffany. Why are so many guys allergic to normal relationships? It’s so damn stupid!!!

My anxiety about going to a party in a place that was not familiar was really high. I did well at Tristan’s and I was pretty good at the pool hall, but going to a party at the Gamma frat house had my hands shaking in fear. I told myself over and over again that as long as I kept my wits about me, everything would be fine. People go to frat parties every day and come out fine. That didn’t keep me from dressing in a way that wouldn’t draw any attention to me. It was hot as hell out but I wore jeans, an Evermore t-shirt and my white Chucks.

Darbywas dressed like she was about to work a runway, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what her personal intentions were for tonight. She wore a teeny-tiny jean skirt, cowboy boots and a low-cut crop top that ended just at her belly button. The outfit in combination with her perfectly coiffed hair, smoky eye makeup and shiny lip-gloss would have guys all over her all night. She was definitely hell-bent on getting attention, and I worried that she was going to make a stupid decision in an attempt to get back at Trace for having sex with Tiffany.

I wasn’t happy that Darby was insisting that we walk to the frat house, but I lost the argument and agreed on leaving my car behind. As we left our dorm room, we ran into Rosie in the hallway.

Smiling brightly at us, she asked, “Are you girls going to the Kappa party?”

We were both shaking our heads in the negative when the door to Rosie and Tiffany’s room swung open and Tiffany came gliding out. When she glanced at Darby and me, she gave a fake laugh.

“I see that Ginger’s all dressed up and raring to GO! What about you, Blondie? You going to the library or something?”

Clearly bitch-Tiffany was back in full effect.

Darby was pissed and I could tell that she was hanging by a thread. “Don’t. Call. Me. Ginger.”

“I didn’t realize that only Trace and Tristan were allowed to call you that,” Tiffany said with a bitchy giggle. “Sorry if I offended you.”

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